JASON PEAKE
The Webb City Cardinals enter the postseason with plenty of momentum on their side.
Ranked No. 1 in Class 4 by the Missouri Media, the defending state champion Cardinals have won 24 straight games ahead of tonight's playoff opener.
Top-seeded Webb City (9-0) hosts eighth-seeded McDonald County (3-6) in a first-round contest of theClass 4 District 6 tournament. Kickoff is slated for 7 at Cardinal Stadium, and there will be free admission and a fireworks show on Fan Appreciation Night.
"The postseason is here and this is the week we want to be playing our best football," Webb City coach John Roderique said. "That's what we've talked to our kids about this week. We don't talk about seeds or 1 vs. 8. McDonald County hasn't had a tremendous amount of success this year, but we know they have some good players. You can see the progress that they've made under their new staff. They've certainly tt btt Y gotten better. You can see that on film."
Second-year McDonald County coach Kellen Hoover noted the Cardinals definitely pose a tough challenge.
"For us it's an opportunity to compete against a program that has had a lot of success for a long time," Hoover said. "And for us, it's a chance to show where our program is at and the developmental track we're on. We don't have anything to lose. We just want our guys to compete on every snap and do their best."
McDonald County has earned wins against Rogersville (21-13), East Newton (388) and Nevada (42-20), while the Mustangs have suffered losses to Marshfield (41-7), Hollister (35-28), Cassville (37-6), Lamar (45-13), Monett (18-12) and Seneca (40-28).
"The best way to describe our season would be up and down," said Hoover, who played baseball at Missouri Southern. "We've been a little inconsistent at times as far as being able to put something together on both sides of the ball. And the Big 8 is tough every week."
Senior running back Oakley Roessler leads Mc-Donald County's ground attack. A first team all-Big 8 performer, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Roessler has run for 1,737 yards and 21 touchdowns this season.
"Oakley's definitely the engine that makes our offense go," Hoover said. "He's got speed and strength and he's not an easy tackle. And our offensive line has done a good job of keeping defensive linemen off of him."
Junior quarterback Ben Mora directs McDonald County's offense, while Boston Dowd and Reece Cooper are top receivers. Leading the Mustangs up front is 310-pound senior Elliott Wolfe, an all-conference lineman. Joseph Brown is a senior linebacker who earned second team all-Big 8 honors, while junior free safety Michael Williams is the team's leader in tackles.
"The entire defense has started to step it up," Hoover said. "Lately we've done a much better job of getting more bodies to the ball, whether it's on the ground or in the air. And we've started to get more takeaways."
The Cardinals are averaging 297 rushing yards per game to go along with 94 passing yards.
Sophomore Devrin Weathers (854 yards, 10 TD) and senior Durand Henderson (819 yards, 13 TD) lead Webb City's ground attack, while senior dual-threat quarterback Cade Beason has passed for 539 yards with six touchdowns and rushed for 363 yards with five scores. Junior Terrell Kabala (269 yards, 4 TD) and senior Alex Gaskill (241 yards, 4 TD) are the team's top receivers.
"They seem to do a great job in all aspects of the game," Hoover said. "They're solid everywhere. Coach Roderique has a done an incredible job there and every year you know you're going to face that tough, physical run game. It's always a problem to stop. We're going to have to play extremely sound defensively."
Webb City's offense is scoring 40 points per game, while the defense is surrendering just 10 points. Junior linebacker Ruben Lenker (76), junior lineman Brayden Bond (64) and linebacker Gaskill (64) are leading the Cardinals in tackles.
"On their defensive side, they do a great job of flying to the football," Hoover said. "They've got a lot of really good football players. It looks like they've got all the boxes checked. We just want to our guys to compete their tails off and leave it all on the field."
Joplin Glove 10/26/2018 (Used by permission)